I have $3k - do I go dual suspension, or upgrade to a high-end hardtail?

I'm nearly 40 years old, 6'0 210 lbs, ride WWC, LNSP, N. Meck, etc. at a moderate/aggressive pace (10% blacks, 70% blues, 20% green).  I'm slow on the uphills (like any big guy) and feel a dual suspension would make it worse with the loss of efficiency/bob.  Occasionally I may hit some legit downhill like Wilkes or DuPont.  Flowy over technical.

I ride a $1300 2013 Airborne Goblin HT now (20" Size w/ 29" tires), and have beat the hell out of it over ~1000 miles of dirt (and learning to MTB for realz)...bent rotors, rims, both derailleurs replaced, split a few chains, etc.  Certainly want to invest in a tougher bike/parts.  Another hesitation about a dual is there is more that can go wrong/break.  Durability > speed/weight.

Help a brother out.  Advice on models is welcome as well.  Thanks! 

^^^  All good advice.  Get out there to some demos and ride a few bikes in your price range.  My brother just picked up a 2015 Fuel EX8 29'er a few months ago and it's a great bike for the money.  I've ridden it a few times and it does everything pretty well.  I'd probably go with the 27.5 if it was me, but I'm still partial to my Nomad w/ 26's.

I'm 63, been the full route.  Hardtail, full suspension, rigid and back to a steel hardtail.  Works for me.  I'm faster and I have more fun on the hardtail than I ever had on the full suspension bike.s.  Just ride!

I've had more fun in the past year of owning a full-suspension then I had in 10 years owning my hardtails. All in all it's based on preference and how/where you ride, but since I made the jump to the squishy I'll never go back. 

I started on a hard tail. Had it for less than a year before I found a sweet deal on Craigslist that I couldn't pass up. After buying that and selling the hard tail, it only cost me about $250 to upgrade to a similar spec full squish. Never looked back. For reference, I went from a 2014 Scott Scale 770 to a 2014 Giant Anthem 3 27.5. 

I was expecting to be more tired at the end of my rides on the full suspension (they're less efficient after all, right?) but to my surprise, within 2-3 rides I was going faster and was able to ride longer duration than on the hard tail. My thoughts on the subject are as follows.

1. Yes, the additional damping DOES soak up a little more of your precious energy. It's science, I'm not going to deny that. 

2. There is less shock load hitting your body. Every time your body feels an impact, your muscles reflexively tense up to absorb it. This causes muscle fatigue and soreness. Full suspension allows the bike to absorb some of the hit, instead of your body.

3. On rougher (rooty and rocky) climbs or flats when you are putting the power down, the rear suspension will maintain more consistent traction and allow you to be more efficient at applying power. You can usually just remain seated and pedal right through it. Whereas on a hard tail you would have to pick your butt up off the seat and selectively apply power while the back tire is skipping all over the ground. Same concept applies to braking on rough terrain.

Ultimately, for me and the type of riding I do, full suspension is hands down the better tool for the job. Is it less efficient on long fire road climbs? Yes, If I forget to lockout the shock. But I didn't get into mountain biking for the long fire road climbs. 

Niner Jet 9.........BOOM DONE !

Good info all, many thanks.  Although it seems it's pretty split .  I most def plan to rent some whips for some test rides - just trying to cut the number in half by identifying FS vs. HT prior.  

I did hit the Trek demo day last Sat at WWC 15 min after opening, and the line was a solid 45 min wait.  Couldn't stand waiting with all of that beautiful track calling for me (and my wife at home watching the clock), so just rode my current ride.  I almost waived around a big wad of cash yelling "real customer here!!!", but held back...lol.

I'm about your same height/weight/age/skill level. Definitely not a mutant ride like BoSSY who didn't mention he does all that hard tail riding single speed and still whoops my tail!

I had similar concerns when I bought my new bike a few years ago, especially regarding the climbing cuz I suck at it.

Ended up with a Santa Cruz Tallboy and love it. It climbs great. I'm tempted by new bikes all the time but when I get out and ride I can't find a good reason to drop more on a new one.

As I've looked, other bikes that have tempted me include the specialized Stumpjumper for a beefier ride, Yeti SB4.5c for a similar and maybe more aggressive ride and other Santa Cruz models- demoed a Bronson but didn't like it all that much.

Mike 5 wrote on 07/01/16 at 8:28pm:



If your in the market, go rent a bike a bike from Cycle Path.  Hard to beat the deals he has going on if you like it

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I'm bias, I like the dh and jumps more so FS for me.  Can u do it with a HT, sure, but dh isn't as stable and jumps to fairly flats are rough on the body.  But the way you describe your riding style, not sure you'll care much for FS.  Sure you could lock it or have the shock stiff but why have an FS if that's what your going to do.  If you need convincing, me thinks you're better off with HT.  For the local trails in Charlotte, I Def dig riding my HT over FS as its not needed.